May 12, 1919

At the present time, the transportation of children from the northern gubernias to the south for placement in children’s colonies for the summer has begun.

The entire organization of dispatching the children on the ground is entrusted to Tsentroplenbezh*. The transportation is to be carried out, as far as possible, by sanitary trains under the direction of the Main Sanitary Administration. Since the number of sanitary trains will be provided in limited quantity, measures must be taken for the most rational utilisation of the sanitary trains. I therefore insistently request that measures be taken to ensure that the sanitary trains, upon unloading, immediately return to their place of registration to make the following trips and that the empty trains travel without delay. Changes in the itinerary of the sanitary trains may only take place with the permission of the Main Evacuation Bureau.

Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars  
Lenin

* Tsentroplenbezh — Central Administration for Prisoners of War and Refugees.